Local Hoops Poll Week Three: Mason Madness

More history. We have a MEAC team in the Atlantic 11 for the first time. Congratulations, Morgan State. We have an unprecedented spike from UMBC, easily the best showing from a low-major in Poll history.

The dilemma at the top virtually vanished, with Georgetown getting 71 of 73 first-place votes. But there was considerable disagreement whether Mason or Virginia should be second, and the two teams switched places repeatedly as the votes were tallied. Mason wound up on top, barely.

Poll movement: Too many minor fluctuations to mention here. Seven of the eight remaining undefeated teams lost last week; only Georgetown remained unscathed. Biggest movers: GW dropped from fifth to a tie for eighth, and UMBC jumped from ninth to sixth.

The AP ranks 'em like this: Georgetown (5th), Virginia (33rd), George Mason (37th tied) and George Washington, with one vote, which had to have been a mistake by some dumb voter. The coaches rank 'em like this: Georgetown (5th) and Virginia (30th). No votes for Mason. That's a scandal.

3. Virginia (5-1) 601 (1)
--Tuesday vs. Northwestern.
--The Philly Hoop Group Classic featured two teams from Maryland, one from D.C., one from Virginia, one from Pittsburgh, one from New Jersey and only two from Philadelphia. Not very Philly. And with teams like Howard, Navy and Penn, not very hoop either. (Bill Fitzgerald)

4. Maryland (4-2) 484
--Wednesday vs. Illinois, Sunday vs. No. 5 VCU.
--Sure, they lost to Missouri, but that's the number 1 team in the country. Right? (Paul Campbell)

6. UMBC (4-1) 316
--Thursday vs. No. 10 Morgan State, Saturday at unranked American.
--The Retrievers could easily make a case for being this year's George Mason. Unfortunately, George Mason is also making a very strong case for being this year's George Mason. (Tim Lemke)

7. Virginia Tech (2-2) 260
--Wednesday at Penn State, Saturday vs. UNC Asheville.
--In wake of Michael Vick case, basketball team was told to lose to Gonzaga due to fear of being accused of beating any more bulldogs. (Matt Mandel)

8t. Old Dominion (3-3) 191
--Wednesday vs. No. 1 Georgetown, Saturday at Georgia State.
--Play three of the country's top six teams in one week? Sure. What could go wrong? (Sean McLernon)

8t. George Washington (2-1) 191
--Wednesday at UCLA, Sunday vs. Auburn.
--As a general rule, you should try to avoid losing to a school with the word "county" in its name. (Glenn Arnold)

The biggest travesty about Mason getting no votes in the Coaches Poll is that we had 9 votes last week. Somebody out there will have to explain how you go from 9 votes to none after beating nationally-ranked Kansas State and South Carolina (and falling just short against another ranked team in Villanova).

After this weekend, the Mason Mystique continues to grow. Outstanding! Who among the big schools wants to play Mason now? Getting harder and harder to schedule those big-school, non-conference games, eh?
GO, MASON!

Navy and Virginia - I've never seen two players score more points while missing more shots than Greg Sprink and Sean Singletary did over the weekend in Philly.

Howard - Might be the first team to ever go undefeated in the Big 5 but lose to Robert Morris.

Loyola - Having now watched Jimmy Patsos in person, it makes too much sense to me that he succeeds Gary Williams. He screams just as much, but has the sense to wear dark suits instead of gray suits so that the sweat doesn't show as much.

I also watched Towson beat Loyola, but Towson has since lost to Bucknell(not great)and Vermont(not good). A win at Samford doesn't really tip the scales. Loyola has losses to Drexel and Seton Hall, no shame in those, but has beaten four bad teams. So I would agree that they are closer than most voters seem to think, but neither has yet to prove that their first game was more than a fluke.

Georgetown - In his postgame press conference, John Thompson blamed the ongoing writers' strike for the lack of drama in the Hoyas' win at Ball State.

George Mason - Jim Larranaga finally made good on his promise to take his team to Disney World for getting to the Final Four, but Folarin Campbell was disappointed that lunch in Cinderella's Castle was sold out.

Maryland - Sprint Center joins Verizon Center on Gary Williams' list of least favorite arenas named for telecommunications giants. Don't look for the Terps to play at the Alcatel-Lucent Center anytime soon.

UMBC - Retrievers lost to Lafayette and beat George Washington last week. I wonder how they'll do next week against Cornwallis College and Von Steuben State.

VCU - In Puerto Rico, Eric Maynor was dismayed to learn that Daddy Yankee is neither a Daddy nor a Yankee.

GW - The Colonials gave up more threes against UMBC than the runner-up in the National Go Fish Championship.

Morgan State - With close losses at Miami and Connecticut, Bears are ready to storm the cellars of the ACC and Big East.

Virginia Tech - Seth Greenberg gave his players a sundown curfew at Great Alaska Shootout, obviously forgetting that the sun won't set for two more weeks.

Old Dominion - Monarchs must have looked past Clemson, UNC and Louisville in anticipation of Georgetown game.

Georgetown - Took down Ronny Thompson and Ball State. Next up: JTII's radio show!

George Mason - While this leap up the charts is great for Mason, it speaks terribly of the local scene.

Virginia - Seton Hall only beat Navy by four. Navy. At Seton Hall, not at a neutral venue. Really, let that sink in.

Maryland - After getting bullied by UCLA and Mizzou, the Terps find a nerd to beat up. Take that, dairy producers!

GW - Lost to UMBC? And yet, I see no word of Karl Hobbs exploding with rage.

ODU - No real jokes from their games...I think it's time for root beer jokes! The hits keep coming for ODU: After two straight games against top 10 teams, ODU will face IBC in a matchup of top five root beers.

Va. Tech - Another team with losses to ranked teams, as expected. The Bog poll is getting boring.

VCU - Beat Elon and saluted King George III once again by maintaining "Commonwealth". If I find myself in Richmond and someone tries to give me change in pence or farthings, it's on.

Loyola - Seton Hall would be my #2 if they were eligible after crushing the whole area's hopes.

Georgetown - Hoyas better watch out for UMBC; soon we'll be having an Atlantic 11 local dog mascot poll.

G. Mason - I'm setting the over/under on voter comparisons to the '06 team at 30.

UUMBC- After the Retrievers beat GW, I was walking out of the bathroom and heard one guy sing/tell his buddy, "who let the dogs out?! hoo, hoo, hoo-hoo!"- and I couldn't tell if he was happy about UMBC's win or making a sick joke.

GW - Who scheduled GW to play AT UMBC during Thanksgiving break? If Kvancz scheduled at NJIT instead, it would've been packed with GW students.

Old Dominion - After scheduling #1 UNC and #6 Louisville IN VEGAS, then coming home to play #5 G'town, someone should call AJ Daulerio to make odds on the next NCAA hoops team with a "misappropriation of funds" scandal.

Morgan State - Who would've thought the Morgan State/UMBC game on Nov. 29 would have such important implications?

GU - Your classic case of a coach, coaching where his father was a legend, beating a team that used to be coached by his brother, who quit because the administrators are racists. GU hasn't looked good, but until they lose they're 1 in this poll.

UVA - Sean and the Singletarys.

GMU - Hard to bet against a team with an Isiah, Jordan, and Bird(song)...as long as they aren't in the front office.

Wow but this was a tough week to vote. UMBC is three points away from still being the only undefeated team other than Georgetown in the poll. I'll repeat that again: UMBC is only THREE points away from being undefeated. I'm going to have to head up to the RAC and bring tennis balls to throw around the court in hopes it will distract these water loving animals.

Georgetown has it all figured out. In a week in which everyone else in the region loses at least once, play just one game. And not only play just one game, but convince the head coach's brother to pick a fight and get all of the players on the other team to transfer. Bill Belichick has nothing on JTIII. Nothing.

Shot of the game from the Maryland-UCLA game. Gist with his head in his hands on the bench after Maryland loses. We'll be seeing that a lot, especially since Greivis evidently means "ball hog" in Spanish. Unless you have Kevin Durant next to you.

I have no idea how to rank these people. James Madison at 3-1, with a Loss to 2-3 VMI has to fit in here, because nobody else can win. Wow.

Georgetown - That argument between "They haven't lost yet" and "They haven't beaten anyone impressive" for keeping the Hoyas at #1 is a lot easier to resolve when everyone behind them loses.

George Mason - Mason 07-08 is starting to look like Mason 05-06, but better.

VCU - Bog Poll Rule 1 (the Va Tech rule): You can't fall in the rankings if you don't play. Bog Poll Rule 1a (the VCU rule): If you want to rise, wait for everyone else to lose, and then only play Elon that week.

Virginia - The Cavs lose to the dregs of the Big East and their crazy coach? Did Sean Singletary get healthy or something?

UMBC - After beating GW, UMBC is 3-0 against the A-10. Just ask Karl Hobbs; going undefeated in the A-10 is the perfect route to an 8 seed come March.

Virginia Tech - Bog Poll Rule 2 (Another Va Tech rule): If you're going to lose two games in a week, make sure they're to ranked teams and in Alaska so no one in the Bog Poll is awake for the games.

GW - If there are Georgetown basketball ads in the Foggy Bottom Metro stop, and Mason Nation ads in the Rosslyn stop that most Georgetown students use, how come there are no Colonial ads in the Vienna-Farifax stop? Oh, right, no one wants to see a team that loses to UMBC.

ODU - I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and keep them in the Top 10 even after losing to two top-five teams. And this is in no way to prevent a karma b!tchslap when Georgetown goes down to Norfolk on Wednesday. Revenge!

Georgetown - A 9-point victory against Ball State is hardly convincing, considering "Ball" is STILL not a state.

Virginia - Is that the sound of dozens of whiny pro-UVA Local Poll Voters eating crow after a 14-point loss to Seton Hall?

Maryland - Gary Williams not worried after 14-point loss to Mizzou because they need only beat Oklahoma to be in the national title game. What? That's the Mizzou football team? Uh oh Gary, time to break out the !@$*...

Old Dominion - ODU will play at home against Georgetown after going on the road to face North Carolina and Louisville. Blaine Taylor likely thinking, "At least we've got strength of schedule locked up! Take that, BCS!"

Virginia Commonwealth - Unprecedented 4-game stretch versus Local 11 Poll teams. Voter tensions build as their Local 11 fate likely hangs in the balance. Okay, so it was just a couple of guys going "hmm, that's interesting."

ODU - Who should be #4 in this poll? The team that needed OT to beat Northeastern? The team that lost to UMBC? UMBC? I guess I'll take the Monarchs, who at least hung with UNC for an entire half. (The Terps will be lucky to do the same.)

VCU - One of two area teams to go undefeated this week. I wish that was funny.

UMBC - In search of a comment for this team, I found myself perusing the UMBC basketball media guide. Man, they *own* Frostburg St. And who knew that Jeff Bzdelik coached them for 2 years in the 80s? Damn you, Steinberg - what have I become?

Loyola - 18-0 run by Drexel much more entertaining than entire run of show "Drexell's Class."

Morgan State - Shockingly in a game featuring the Miami Hurricanes, Todd Bozeman was the person with the longest rap sheet involved in Saturday's game.

GW - So is GW going to refuse to play UMBC from now on?

Longwood - No truth to the rumor that Longwood is in talks to join the Cupcake Conference next year.

Radford - Beating Radford in overtime should count as a loss for Air Force.

Morgan State - To celebrate all their success, I'm sitting here drinking Captain Morgan rum, buying tickets to see Gone Baby Gone with Morgan Freeman, watching Super Size Me with Morgan Spurlock, googling old photos of Morgan Fairchild, and getting financial advice from my representative at Morgan Stanley. I could go on all day.

UMBC - The only possible explanation for the early success of the Retrievers is that they managed to recruit Air Bud.

George Washington - What happened was one of the assistant coaches was taking Chinese food orders over the phone and Karl Hobbs ordered Shrimp Fried Rice but the assistant coach thought he said "Suspend Maureece Rice". That's why the Colonials now use Sprint.

Virginia - They could have beaten Seton Hall, but Thomas Jefferson was opposed to it, so they didn't.

For what it's worth, here's how our mid-majors fared in this week's mid major top 25: George Mason (4), VCU (11), Old Dominion (21), with a few votes for Morgan State and one vote for Loyola. None for UMBC or Towson.

this is a bit unrelated, but USC beats Southern Illinois by 25 (!) just last night and is still behind them in the ESPN Coaches' Poll. can we stop paying attention to that one now? seriously, i bet the local poll voters could do a much better job on a national scale.